Upload
others
View
2
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
University of Aberdeen
Style Guide Version 1
Jo Rostron, Mike McConnell 7/19/2010
1
Contents 1.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 3
2.0 Rules .................................................................................................................................................... 4
2.1 Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................. 4
2.2 Acronyms and initialisms ................................................................................................................ 4
2.3 Addresses ........................................................................................................................................ 5
2.4 Apostrophes .................................................................................................................................... 5
2.5 Area names ..................................................................................................................................... 6
2.6 Bullet points .................................................................................................................................... 7
2.7 Capitals ............................................................................................................................................ 7
2.8 Dates ............................................................................................................................................... 8
2.9 Department names ......................................................................................................................... 9
2.10 Full stops ....................................................................................................................................... 9
2.11 Hyphenation ................................................................................................................................ 10
2.12 Italics ........................................................................................................................................... 10
2.13 Job titles ...................................................................................................................................... 10
2.14 Latin plurals ................................................................................................................................. 12
2.15 Numbers ...................................................................................................................................... 12
2.16 Plurals .......................................................................................................................................... 13
2.17 Qualifications .............................................................................................................................. 14
2.18 Quotation marks ......................................................................................................................... 14
2.19 S or Z............................................................................................................................................ 15
2.20 Time ............................................................................................................................................ 15
2.21 Specific points ............................................................................................................................. 15
3.0 Quick Reference ................................................................................................................................ 18
3.1 A-Z ................................................................................................................................................. 18
A .......................................................................................................................................................... 18
C .......................................................................................................................................................... 18
D .......................................................................................................................................................... 19
E........................................................................................................................................................... 19
F ........................................................................................................................................................... 19
G .......................................................................................................................................................... 19
2
H .......................................................................................................................................................... 20
I ........................................................................................................................................................... 20
M ......................................................................................................................................................... 20
N .......................................................................................................................................................... 20
O .......................................................................................................................................................... 21
P .......................................................................................................................................................... 21
R .......................................................................................................................................................... 21
S ........................................................................................................................................................... 21
T........................................................................................................................................................... 22
U .......................................................................................................................................................... 22
V .......................................................................................................................................................... 22
W ......................................................................................................................................................... 22
3.2 List of Degrees (cross referenced with awards) ............................................................................ 22
3.4 (Pre-University) qualifications ....................................................................................................... 23
3.5 Colleges and Schools ..................................................................................................................... 23
3
1.0 Introduction This guide has been produced to promote a consistent style for University of Aberdeen publications and
for the University‘s website and is based on commonly accepted standards such as those adopted by The
Times and the BBC.
Just as we have a visual identity to make sure that we present a strong, consistent image to the world, so
should we follow some basic guidelines when writing for the University. Our writing should be easy to
read, easy to understand and presented in a consistent style that is familiar to most readers.
4
2.0 Rules
2.1 Abbreviations
Rule Wrong Right
Use of abbreviations should be
kept to a minimum. Where
abbreviations are used,
punctuation should be avoided.
eg. or e.g.
ie. or i.e.
etc. or e.t.c.
pp. or p.p.
eg
ie
etc
pp viz
et al
Abbreviations ‗ie‘ and ‗eg‘ do not
carry punctuation but are
preceded with a comma and
space.
The book is long i.e. over 3,000
pages.
The book is long ie over 3,000
pages.
The book is long, ie over 3,000
pages.
Measurements should be treated
similarly, with no full stops.
m.p.h.
a.m.
p.m.
cm.
mm.
min.
hr.
mph
am
pm
cm
mm
min
hr
Geographical abbreviations follow
a similar style.
U.K.
U.S.A.
U.A.E.
UK
USA
UAE
Points of the compass should not
be abbreviated in straight text and
generally carry lower-case initials
(see also Area Names).
North, South, East, West
N, S, E, W
n, s, e, w
north
south
east
west
2.2 Acronyms and initialisms
Rule Wrong Right
Acronyms and initialisms should
be set in capitals and should have
no full stops and spaces between
letters.
B.B.C.
N.A.L.G.O.
D.I.Y.
BBC
NALGO
DIY
5
Acronyms should be avoided,
wherever possible. Where the
acronym may not be familiar to
the reader or confusion may arise,
the name should be written in full
the first time it is used followed by
the acronym in brackets.
Directorate of Information
Technology (DIT)
2.3 Addresses
Rule Wrong Right
Addresses should be written in full
(no abbreviations) and carry the
postcode.
Do not use punctuation between
post town/city and postcode.
Do not use punctuation at the end
of each line of a stacked address,
but when the address appears in
continuous text, use commas
where the lines would normally
break.
Full stops should not be used in
postcodes.
CASS
University of Aberdeen
King‘s College AB24 3FX
University of Aberdeen,
King‘s College,
Aberdeen, AB24 3FX.
College of Arts and Social
Sciences
University of Aberdeen
King‘s College
Aberdeen
AB24 3FX
2.4 Apostrophes Apostrophes are used to indicate possession or omissions in words and phrases.
Rule Wrong Right
Possession: The rule is that the
apostrophe always comes after
the noun.
The Universitys halls of residence The University‘s halls of residence
When something belongs to more
than one person, then the
apostrophe goes after the s.
Singular nouns ending in s are
treated no differently and ‘s should
still be added.
The graduate‘s certificates will be
kept in departmental offices.
Ross‘ essay was handed in late.
The graduates‘ certificates will be
kept in departmental offices
Ross‘s essay was handed in late.
6
For plurals of nouns that don‘t end
in s, the apostrophe goes before
the s.
The womens minibus runs on
Fridays.
The women‘s minibus runs on
Fridays.
Omission: Apostrophes are also
used to show that letters are
missed out of a word or phrase,
usually to make it easier to
pronounce.
Theyre
Wont
They‘re
Won‘t
Never use an apostrophe to form
a plural with numbers and letters.
1990‘s
CD‘s
1990s
CDs
Its/It’s: Its means belonging to it.
It’s means it is.
The dog has it‘s bone.
Its cold today.
The dog has its bone.
It‘s cold today.
2.5 Area names
Rule Wrong Right
Official area names which include
points of the compass should
carry a capital initial, otherwise
lower case should be used
south Yorkshire
the west midlands
western Australia
North-East
South Yorkshire
the West Midlands
Western Australia
north-east (if used to refer to this
area follow with Scotland to avoid
confusion)
Points of the compass not used as
part of an area name should not
carry a capital initial
the South of Scotland
North-East Scotland
the south of Scotland
north-east Scotland
7
2.6 Bullet points
Rule Wrong Right
Don‘t use ending punctuation for
single words of short phrases in a
list.
Students.
Academics;
Staff.
students
academics
staff
Where bullets form full sentences
use an initial capital and full stop.
This style guide has many
functions:
its primary aim is to
ensure consistency
across the University‘s
publications and the
website and it will be
made available to all staff
This style guide has many
functions:
Its primary aim is to
ensure consistency
across the University‘s
publications and the
website and it will be
made available to all staff.
2.7 Capitals
Rule Wrong Right
Names: capitalise names, course
titles, names of institutions etc but
try to keep to a minimum.
principal
school of education
Principal
School of Education
Headings: Always write headlines
and headings in lower case (after
the first initial capital letter). The
only exception to this is if there is
a name within the heading.
Specific guidelines apply to
menus and major headings on the
website – see the Web Editors‘
Guide.
New Menu At Zeste.
NEW MENU AT ZESTE.
New menu at zeste.
New menu at Zeste.
8
Subjects: use a capital letter only
when referring to the titles of full
programmes of study, otherwise
lower case should be used.
Exceptions to this are languages,
which should always carry an
initial cap and the prospectus,
where a capital letter can be used
if referring to a subject at the
University of Aberdeen.
See also Job Titles.
It is a requirement to study History
at A-level.
bachelor of education
english
french
It is a requirement to study history
at A-level.
Bachelor of Education
English
French
2.8 Dates
Rule Wrong Right
Dates should not be abbreviated
in straight prose.
Do not follow the number of the
day with ‗th‘, ‗st‘ or ‗nd‘.
The day should precede the
month except in press releases
when a media-specific style is
used.
22nd
July 2010
July 22nd
20010
22nd
July ‘10
July 22 2010
22 July 2010
Monday 22 July 2010
When referring to an academic or
financial year, use an oblique (/).
When referring to a span across
two calendar years use a hyphen
without spacing
2010/2011
2010- 11
2010 - 2011
2010/2011
‗10
2010/11
2010-11
2010
In straight prose, write out
centuries up to the 10th
century (ie
first to ninth) in full.
Write it out and hyphenate when
they are used as adjectives.
6th century
Nineteenth century
17th-century armour
sixth century
19th century
seventeenth-century armour
Use spaces when referring to BC
or AD.
200BC
AD1993
200 BC
AD 1993
9
When referring to a particular
decade use, eg ‗sixties‘ or ‗1960s‘
(no apostrophe)
1960‘s 1960s
2.9 Department names
Rule Wrong Right
Please use these names in full.
Do not use abbreviations (CASS,
CLSM etc) unless for internal
purposes only. Note capitalisation.
CASS
College of arts and social
sciences
CLSM
College of Life Sciences &
Medicine
College of Arts and Social
Sciences
College of Life Sciences and
Medicine
2.10 Full stops
Rule Wrong Right
Full stops should not be used after
headings, subheadings,
paragraph headings etc..
Page heading. Page heading
Only one space should be used in
a sentence following a full stop
end of sentence. Start of new end of sentence. Start of new
Minimise use of full stops in
abbreviations. Use only for
clarification or to avoid
misinterpretation, eg, ‗no‘ meaning
‗no‘ and ‗no.‘ meaning ‗number‘.
e.g.
e.g
eg
10
2.11 Hyphenation
Rule Wrong Right
Keep hyphenation to the minimum
to avoid ambiguity. Distinguish
between ‗a man-eating tiger‘ and
‗a man eating tiger‘; ‗four year-old
children‘ and ‗four-year-old
children‘. Words such as ‗makeup‘
and ‗childcare‘ can be run
together and written without a
hyphen. ‗Part-time‘ and ‗full-time‘
need hyphens (both as nouns and
adjectives), but ‗postgraduate‘ and
‗undergraduate‘ do not.
Part time
Full time student
Post-graduate
Under-graduate student
part-time
full-time student
postgraduate
undergraduate student
Ages as adjectives are
hyphenated.
21 year old John Smith.
John Smith is 21-years-old.
21-year-old John Smith.
John Smith is 21 years old.
2.12 Italics
Rule Wrong Right
Italicise Latin names, foreign
words, ship names and titles of
periodicals, works of art, films,
plays, newspapers and books in
preference to using quotation
marks
‗The Times‘
War and Peace
The Times
War and Peace
2.13 Job titles
Rule Wrong Right
Job titles should be capitalised
where it is a specific person such
as ‗Professor Smith is a Lecturer
in Physics‘. General jobs such as
‗a professor‘ should be in lower
case.
A Lecturer in Music.
Professor Smith, lecturer in music.
John Smith, head of admissions.
A lecturer in music.
Professor Smith, Lecturer in
Music.
John Smith, Head of Admissions.
Titles which precede a name
should also have initial capitals.
vice-chancellor Vice-Chancellor
11
Use Professor in full but Dr
abbreviated.
Prof Smith
Doctor Jones
Professor Smith
Dr Jones
12
2.14 Latin plurals
Rule Wrong Right
Many Latin plurals are commonly
used in preference to the singular
form: data, or conversely the
singular form is pluralised: forums.
Being overly prescriptive can be
off-putting to the reader, so where
language has evolved we have
adopted the approaches evident
in common parlance.
fora
formulae
syllabi
data are
a datum
an alumuni
a criteria
forums
formulas
syllabuses
data is
data
an alumunus
a criterion
2.15 Numbers
Rule Wrong Right
Numbers, including ages, up to 10
should be spelled out in full, ie
there are eight students, but
figures should be used for 10 and
above. However, figures should
be used for statistics, money,
weight, measurements.
There are 29 schools, 1 college
and ten universities.
You will receive either £nine or
£92.
The child is 6 years old.
There are 29 schools, one college
and 10 universities.
You will receive either £9 or £92.
The child is six years old.
Never start a sentence with a
number, always spell it out.
End of sentence. 12 people took
part in the study…
End of sentence. Twelve people
took part in the study…
‗Per cent‘ should be written as two
words in full except in diagrams
and tables. The symbol may also
be used in headlines.
90% 90 per cent.
For purposes of clarity, numbers
above 999 should carry a comma
There were 4285 students.
The project cost £15000.
There were 4,285 students.
The project cost £15,000.
13
Million/Billion should be written in
full the first time it is used,
thereafter a symbol of lowercase
‗m‘ or ‗bn‘ (no space) can be
used. For thousands, ‗k‘ should
not be used, instead use digits
separated by a comma (eg
£100,000).
First reference: 15million.
Thereafter: 15 m.
15k.
First reference: £15 million.
Thereafter: 15m.
15,000.
Decimal points should be
preceded by a digit.
.345 0.345
For currency, use either £ or p,
but not both.
£3.50p £3.50
56p
Spaces should not appear
between figures and abbreviated
measurements.
5 mm
10 cm
20 g
5mm
10cm
20g
Do not use spaces for % (only use
symbol in tables, otherwise write
per cent), temperatures or times .
6 %
30 ° F
50 ° C
9 am
6%
30°F
50°C
9am
2.16 Plurals
Rule Wrong Right
Activities of groups such as
research institutes, teams or
schools should be reported as ‗the
School is‘ not ‗the School are‘.
Words such as ‗alumni‘ and
‗media‘ are plurals, but note
exceptions under 2.14 Latin
plurals.
All organisations and institutions
are singular, and should be
referred to as ‗it‘, not ‗they‘.
The University of Aberdeen are
The team are
The university is reviewing their
The University of Aberdeen is
The team is
The university is reviewing its
14
2.17 Qualifications
Rule Wrong Right
Titles and qualifications should not
carry full stops or spaces within
them.
Where qualifications appear after
a name, they should be separated
by a space but no comma.
B.A.
BSc.
Ph.D
Pg Cert.
Pg Dip.
Mr. Smith
Dr. Smith
BA
BSc
PhD
PgCert
PgDip
Mr Smith
Dr Smith
Ltd
BSc (Hons)
FRICS
As a noun use ‗A level‘ (lower-
case ‗l‘ and no hyphen), but as an
adjective use ‗A-level‘ (with a
hyphen).
A level
A-level courses
Highers
2.18 Quotation marks
Rule Wrong Right
Use the correct open/closed
inverted commas/quotation marks.
Use double inverted commas in
preference to singles.
‗quotation‘ He said: ‗We are doing
all we can to make her say "yes"
to her mother.‘
"quotation" He said: "We are
doing all we can to make her say
‗yes‘ to her mother."
Full stops and other punctuation
go inside the quotation marks if a
completed sentence is quoted,
outside if only part of a sentence
is quoted (unless the punctuation
forms part of the speech)
―Hello,‖ said John
The man said "Is it strange"?, but
no one listened
―Hello‖, said John
The man said "Is it strange?", but
no one listened
When a quotation continues into
another sentence, marks are not
closed until the end of the final
sentence.
―The University of Aberdeen
always takes the welfare of its
students extremely seriously.‖
―New measures have been
introduced to combat……‖
―The University of Aberdeen
always takes the welfare of its
students extremely seriously.
―New measures have been
introduced to combat……‖
15
2.19 S or Z
Rule Wrong Right
Use s (British) rather than z
(American) for words ending ‗ise‘.
The only exceptions are capsize
and seize.
Recognize
realize
Organise
Recognise
2.20 Time
Rule Wrong Right
Avoid use of the 24 hour clock.
There is no need for full stops or
spaces between the number and
am or pm. Use 12 noon.
10 a.m
10 am
10:00
19:00
10am
7pm
2.21 Specific points
Rule Wrong Right
Aberdeen University is
not allowed.
The University of
Aberdeen should be
used at all times (the
only exception is AUSA)
Aberdeen University,
Aberdeen Uni
University of Aberdeen
When referring to the
University of Aberdeen
in body text without
using the full name, the
word ‗University‘ should
carry an initial capital.
When referring to
universities in general,
use lower case.
the university has produced this style
guide (when referring to Aberdeen).
students at Universities in Scotland….
the University has produced this
style guide.
students at universities in
Scotland….
Note use of capitals and
hyphen for the title ‗Vice-
Chancellor‘ and ‗Vice-
Principal‘.
Vice chancellor
Vice-chancellor
Vice-Chancellor
16
Do not use hyphens in
telephone numbers. Use
brackets only for
clarification of alternative
digits in international
dialling codes.
01224-272 014
(01224) 27 2014
01224 272 014
01224 272014
+44 (0)1224 272014
Keep email or web
address hyperlinks as a
single entity wherever
possible. If it‘s
unavoidable to break
them across rows, break
after the forward slash.
Never insert hyphenation
to reflect a break as the
hyperlink will not
function.
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/ www.abdn.ac.uk
Do not include ‗http://‘ in
web addresses unless
the address doesn‘t
begin with www in which
case ‗http://‘ must be
prefixed
http://www.aberdeensportsvillage.com/
studentmail.abdn.ac.uk
www.aberdeensportsvillage.com
http://studentmail.abdn.ac.uk/
Express ‗email‘ as one
word (no hyphen), using
upper case ‗E" only
when at the start of a
sentence.
Email can be used as
both a verb and noun.
Express ‗online‘ as one
word.
on-line online
Express ‗website‘ as one
word with lower-case
initial.
web site
Web site
web-site
website
17
Do not underline words.
Use italics to
differentiate Latin
names, foreign words,
ship names and titles of
periodicals, works of art,
films, plays, newspapers
and books.
Italicise ‗the‘ only if it is
part of the name/title.
HMS Hercules HMS Hercules
Avoid the use of fully
capitalised headings/text
— capitals are harder to
read and impede
comprehension.
Use bold or italic to
emphasise text and/or
increase the size of the
heading.
HARD-TO-READ HEADING
THIS TEXT IS HARD TO READ AND THE
USE OF CAPITAL LETTERS IMPEDES
COMPREHENSION
Easy-to-read heading
This text is much easier to read as
readers recognise the words more
easily by their shapes
Fonts – the University
fonts are Arial or Calibri
for documentation (12pt
in normal text) and
Verdana for the web.
Sans serif fonts are
easier to read and
should be left justified.
Times New Roman
This sentence is fully justified rather than
aligned to the left
Arial
This sentence is aligned to the left
18
3.0 Quick Reference
3.1 A-Z A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
A
Wrong Right
Aberdeen University University of Aberdeen
@ Should never be used in place of ‗at‘
advisor adviser (but advisory)
alot (never) allot (unless in the context to distribute
between or among)
a lot (two words meaning many)
all ready (unless used in context ‗we are all ready
to‘)
already (means ‗by now‘, ‗even now‘, or ‗by then‘
eg ‗the course has already started‘)
alright all right
A-Level/ A-level A level (no hyphen, lower case l)
amidst amid
amongst among
an historic collection A historic collection (use only if h is silent, eg an
honour)
any way (unless meaning ‗any method‘) Anyway (meaning regardless)
C
Wrong Right
carpark car park
co-operate cooperate
co-ordinate coordinate
college of arts & social sciences College of Arts and Social Sciences
college of physical sciences College of Physical Sciences
college of life sciences & medicine College of Life Sciences and Medicine
19
D
Wrong Right
degree classes – 2.1, 2.1 2:1, 2:2
desk top desktop
Dr. Dr (no full stop)
E
Wrong Right
E-mail/e-mail email
e-learning, e-commerce eLearning, ecommerce
e.g. eg (use for example in preference)
Etc. etc (avoid if possible)
extra curricular extracurricular
F
Wrong Right
Freshers Week/ Fresher‘s Week Freshers‘ Week
field work fieldwork
figure head figurehead
fulltime/ full time full-time
fund raising fundraising
G
Wrong Right
Government government (lower case unless Scottish
Government)
ground-breaking groundbreaking
20
H
Wrong Right
help desk Helpdesk (note that at the University, the helpdesk
is now referred to as the Service Desk.
Homepage home page
Honours honours (lower case)
I
Wrong Right
i.e. ie (try to rephrase to avoid if possible)
Internet internet (lower case)
inter-departmental interdepartmental
inter-disciplinary interdisciplinary
inter-personal interpersonal
inter-related interrelated
-ize endings - ise (except capsize/ seize)
land-mark landmark
M
Wrong Right
mediaeval medieval
Mr. Mr (no full stop)
multi-disciplinary multidisciplinary
multi-national multinational
N
Wrong Right
Nation-wide nationwide
21
O
Wrong Right
Off-line offline
on-going ongoing
On-line online
organize organise
P
Wrong Right
parttime/ part time part-time
Wrong Right
Principle Principal (when referring to University Principal)
Post-doctoral postdoctoral
Post-graduate postgraduate
Prof Professor
program Programme (unless referring to a computer
program)
R
Wrong Right
roundup round-up
S
Wrong Right
school children schoolchildren
School of (see list below)
sixth form college sixth-form college
spinout/ spin out spin-out
sub-committee subcommittee
22
T
Wrong Right
team-work teamwork
U
Wrong Right
Up-load upload
Under-graduate undergraduate
V
Wrong Right
vice chancellor Vice-Chancellor (hyphenate)
vice president Vice-President (hyphenate)
vice principal Vice-Principal (hyphenate)
W
Wrong Right
Web-site website
well-being wellbeing
with-hold withhold
work-place workplace
World-wide worldwide
3.2 List of Degrees (cross referenced with awards)
BA
Bachelor of Arts
BEng
Bachelor of Engineering
BSc
Bachelor of Science
LLB
Bachelor of Laws
LLM
Master of Laws
MA
Master of Arts
23
MB ChB
Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery/Chirurgery
MMus
Master of Music
MSc
Master of Science
MTh
Master of Theology
MPhil
Master of Philosophy
PgDip
Postgraduate Diploma
PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
MSc
MSc by Research
Diploma
Certificate
MMus
Master of Clinical Dentistry
MTh
Med
LLM
Master of Chinese Studies
MBA
MSW
MPhil
MTeach
PGDE
PGC (IT)E
EdD
DClinPsychol
Pay particular attention to Masters:
Masters, Master’s, Masters’
Dependent on the official title of the: Master of XXX, Master‘s in XXX. Masters‘ should only be used when
referring to more than one programme.
3.4 (Pre-University) qualifications
SQA Highers
GCE A Levels
HNC HND
3.5 Colleges and Schools
When presented as a title the following forms should be used:
24
Colleges
College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS)
College of Life Sciences and Medicine (CLSM)
College of Physical Sciences (CoPS)
Schools
School of Biological Sciences
School of Divinity, History and Philosophy
School of Education
School of Engineering
School of Geosciences
School of Language and Literature
School of Law
School of Medical Sciences
School of Medicine and Dentistry
School of Natural and Computing Sciences
School of Psychology
School of Social Science
Science and Engineering
Other:
Research Institute of Scottish and Irish Studies
The Suttie Centre for Teaching and Learning in Healthcare
The Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health